Board game apparatus with letter selecting dice



Oct. 15, 1968 M. n. MARSH T L 3,405,943

BOARD GAME APPARATUS WITH LETTER SELECTING DICE Filed March 21, 1966 PIG-(2. 10 J2 L //I ;l' //J.V .z 17 ,7 14

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INVENTORS MARWN D MARSH M JOSEPH LPENQE BY WM /[QM A T TORNE ya United States Patent C 3,405,943 BOARD GAME APPARATUS WITH LETTER SELECTING DICE Marvin D. Marsh, Rte. 1, Box 32, Newton Falls, Ohio 44444, and Joseph E. Pence, Newton Falls, Ohio; said Pence assignor to said Marsh Filed Mar. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 535,863 2 Claims. (Cl. 273135) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Our invention relates to games, more particularly to educational games, and the principal object of our invention is to provide new and improved games of this character.

Most children and adults enjoy competitive games and our improved game combines the element of competition with the opportunity of learning the alphabet (for children) and the names of various objects (for both children and adults). The objects may be animal, mineral or vegetable and the game may combine the names of objects falling into all three categories or separate games may be provided, each limited to one category.

In the drawing accompanying this description and forming a part of this specification, there is shown an embodiment which our game may assume, and in this drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a playing board used in connection with the playing of our improved game,

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view corresponding to the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 illustrates objects, such as marbles, which are used in playing the game, and

FIGURES 4a and 4b illustrate a pair of dice, also used in playing the game.

The game board may be of any design, but preferably it comprises a base 11, side pieces 12, 14 and an end piece 15, providing a slight enclosure.

The base 11 has vertically and horizontally aligned places upon which objects may be positioned and, as herein disclosed, such places are defined by a series of recesses, preferably apertures which extend completely through the base.

As seen in FIGURE 1, a first vertical row of apertures 16 and four vertical rows of apertures 17 are provided, the apertures 16 being larger than the apertures 17 for a purpose to be described. Horizontally aligned with each aperture 16 are four small apertures 17, to provide a series of horizontal rows, each including one large aperture 16 and four small apertures 17. It will be appreciated that each horizontal row may be formed of apertures of the same size or of a different number of large and/or small apertures, but it has been found that the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1 is preferable.

The letters A through Z are aligned with respective horizontal row of apertures, and to give the game an educational aspect such letters may be the first letter of the name of an object. In the illustrated embodiment, the letters A through M may be the first letters of the names of different types of fruit, whereas the letters N through Z may be the first letters of the names of different animals.

Thus, the letter A may be for Apple; the letter B for Banana; the letter C for Cherries; the letter D for Dates; the letter B for Elderberries; the letter F for Figs; the letter G for Grapes; the letter H for Huckleberries; the letter I for Ivanhoe (not a fruit); the letter I for Jujube; the letter K for Kumquat; the letter L for Lemon; and the letter M for Muleberries.

Similarly, with respect to animal designations, the letter N may be for Nanny Goat; the letter O for Ox; the letter P for Pig; the letter Q for Quagga; the letter R for Rabbit; the letter S for Squirrel; the letter T for Tiger; the letter U for Unicorn; the letter V for Vienna; the letter W for Wolf; the letter X for Xerus; the letter Y for Yak; and the letter Z for Zebra.

A plurality of objects, at least equal in number to the number of apertures 16 and 17, are provided, and such objects may be spherical in configuration, such as marbles, and may be of difierent colors. Certain of the marbles are large, as shown at 18, in FIGURE 3, and the others 19 are smaller.

The apertures and marbles are so proportioned that the marbles 18 fit within the apertures 16 and the marbles 19 fit within the apertures 17 so that the marbles may be viewed from the playing surface, which is the top surface of the board 11. Preferably the proportion is such that less than half a marble will fit in a respective aperture.

FIGURES 4a and 4b show dice 20, 21 which are provided in pairs to play our improved game. Each dice is provided with fourteen sides. Each of the pair of dice 20 has the letters A through M on thirteen respective sides, with the fourteenth side blank. Each of the pair of dice 21 has the letters N through Z on thirteen respective sides, with the fourteenth side blank. The pairs of dice may be of diflferent colors to assist in distinguishing them.

To play the game, each player may be provided with a game board, or several players may use a common board. To choose a beginner, the players may roll the set of dice 20 and the first one rolling the letter A will begin, with players changing dice in any selected rotation.

Any player may choose to roll either pair of dice 20 or 21, depending upon which sets of apertures he wishes to fill first. The dice may be rolled from the hand, or they may be placed in a suitable cup (not shown) and rolled therefrom. Assuming the player desires to roll the dice 20 and the same stop with the faces containing the letters A and D uppermost, the player would take two small marbles 19 and place one in a small aperture 17 in the row A and the other in a small aperture 17 in the row D. When all small apertures 17 in a particular row are filled with small marbles, a large marble 18 is placed in the large aperture 16 in this row.

If a player rolls the dice and like letters appear uppermost (such as A on each of the dice 20) the player places a large marble 18 in the large aperture 16 of that row, and does not have to fill up the small apertures in that row. It the player rolls the dice and a blank should turn up on one die, he places a small marble in the row of the letter shown by the other die and receives an extra roll of the dice. If a player rolls the dice and two blank spaces appear, he receives two extra rolls. The game continues until all of the large apertures on the board are filled with large marbles, and the player who accom plishes this first is declared the Winner.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have accomplished at least the principal object of our invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and

that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We' claim: i

1. An educational game apparatus, comprising a game board, a pair of dice, each being fourteen sided and one carrying the letters A through M on thirteen respective sides with one side blank, and the other carrying the letters N through Z on thirteen respective sides with one side blank, a plurality of objects to be placed in selected fashion on said game board, said objects being spherical and provided in two sets, the objects in one set being larger than those in the other, and said game board having vertically and horizontally aligned recesses extending inwardly from a playing surface of said board, the recesses in the first row of vertically aligned recesses being larger to receive the larger spherical objects and respectively marked with the letters A through Z, and the recesses in the remaining vertically aligned rows of recesses being smaller to receive the smaller spherical objects, each horizontal row comprising one of the larger recesses and a plurality of the smaller recesses and the recesses and-spherical objects being relatively proportioned so that an object in a respective recess will be visible from said playing surface.

2. The game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the name of an object is displayed adjacent each of said rows, the first letter of each name being one of said letters A through Z.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 508,524 11/1893 Moore 273-135 1,203,473 10/1916 Branch 273-135 1,586,429 5/1926 Kiesling 273--135 1,692,402 11/1928 Barthel 273-135 1,760,642 5/1930 Graham 273135 FOREIGN PATENTS 673,136 6/1952 Great Britain.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. 

